Fernando Alonso is expecting more grid penalties in Azerbaijan this weekend as a consequence of Honda-powered McLaren’s ongoing power unit problems. “It’s no secret that we expect to find this weekend tricky,” he said in a team preview of the race in Baku, round eight of the Formula One season.
“After the power unit issues it’s likely we’ll need to take penalties, and the nature of the narrow, fast straights and tight corners means overtaking is generally tough,” added the Spaniard. “However, it’s certainly not impossible, and we’ll keep fighting as we always do.”
Ongoing issues with Honda’s power unit have seen McLaren suffer a spate of failures throughout the season and Alonso’s car most recently took a grid penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix for exceeding its season-long quota of four turbochargers and four MGU-Hs (albeit while Jenson Button was substituting for Alonso). Following another failure in the final few laps of the Canadian Grand Prix, Alonso is expecting to exceed another of his car’s quotas in Baku this weekend.
Alonso, a double world champion with Renault in 2005 and 2006, retired in Canada on June 12 due to a power unit failure while running in 10th place. He said at the time that “we will start last probably in Baku.” McLaren, 12-times constructors’ world champions and the second most successful team in Formula One in terms of race wins, are last in the current championship and the only ones yet to score a point.
They have taken a string of grid penalties due to exceeding their allocation of power units, with Alonso failing to start in Russia after the car broke down on the formation lap. In Bahrain, Belgian team mate Stoffel Vandoorne had been unable to start. The team ramped up their criticism of Honda before the Montreal race and have indicated they are looking at other options for the future. “In Canada we were unable to fulfil any potential we showed during the weekend, and we anticipate that in Baku we will face a similar challenge due to the demands this circuit’s characteristics place on the car,” said McLaren’s Racing Director Eric Boullier.
However, Honda engine boss Yusuke Hasegawa doubts there will be a tangible step forwards in Baku. “The race is not back-to-back this year so we’re fortunate to have extra time back at the factory to analyse and understand the data collected in Canada. However, we’re under no illusions that this weekend will be straightforward for us — Baku City Circuit has one of the longest straights of any Formula 1 track at over 2km and is a notoriously power-hungry circuit. I think we can expect another tough challenge for the team.
“We’re going through a difficult time at the moment, but we’re doing all that we can to rectify the situation. We must continue to concentrate on development as one team with McLaren and turn things around as soon as we can.”
